The Leopard Taboo and Other Liberian Folk Tales

“Why does a white woman come all the way from America to hear our stories?”

“So our children in America can enjoy many of the stories that you love to hear in Liberia.”

And so, it was told that once upon a time, the leopards were afraid of the chickens; Spider’s waist was not always this tiny; half-serpent and half-human creatures live deep in the waters where a hauntingly sorrowful song can be heard in the early mornings… The Leopard Taboo and Other Liberian Folk Tales is the posthumous work of Joan Mulondo, who listened to, recorded, and retold the rich folk tales as narrated by respected storytellers of the Kpelle, Kissi, and Loma tribes, as she sat amongst them in remote Liberia in the Spring of 1982.